Trump Says Putin ‘Means It’ About Not Meddling<br />DANANG, Vietnam — President Trump said on Saturday<br />that he believed President Vladimir V. Putin was sincere in his denials of interference in the 2016 presidential elections, calling questions about Moscow’s meddling a politically motivated “hit job” that was hindering cooperation with Russia on life-or-death issues.<br />It said that Mr. Trump believed he had “a good meeting” with Mr. Putin on common efforts that, once in place, would “save thousands of lives.”<br />Mr. Trump’s description of the exchange about election meddling was striking because it suggested<br />that he concurred with Mr. Putin’s oft-stated contention that the issue was a contrived story that had been allowed to become a detriment to both the United States and Russia.<br />Speaking after meeting privately with Mr. Putin on the sideline of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in Danang, Vietnam, Mr. Trump said<br />that he had again asked whether Russia had meddled in the contest, but that the continued focus on the issue was insulting to Mr. Putin.<br />“I think that everything connected with the so-called Russian dossier in the United States is a manifestation of a continuing<br />domestic political struggle,” Mr. Putin said after the summit meeting, in remarks carried by Russian news media.<br />And you have President Putin very strongly, vehemently says he had nothing to do with that.”<br />The Central Intelligence Agency on Saturday declined to comment on the remarks by President Trump about Russian interference in the election.<br />When Mr. Putin denied it, American officials said at the time, Mr. Trump said the two countries must agree to disagree on the issue<br />and move on to other topics where they could work together.
